Snow melting apparatus



March 25, 1952 Filed Jan. 16, 1946 S-Shets-Sheet l FIG.|

INVENTOR.

MAX HOFFMAN- AaATToRNE March 25 1952 M., HOFFMAN 2,590,701

- SNOW MELTING APPARATUSV- v Filed Jan. 16, 1946 :s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

MAX HOFFMA N March 25, 1952 HOFFMAN 2,590,701

SNOW MEL-TING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. MAX HOFFMAN TTORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PAT-E -NT- OFF-ICE 11,590,701 SNOW-MEETING APPARATUS v Max fio firnan, Bos tdil, 'Ma'fss. Aspiisa'fian January 16, 194B, sefial Ndfiddfi l lii (c1. et-13) l-Clafim.

The present invention relates to a means and method of 'remo'ving snow from roads, Walks and the like, bymelting and 'permitting the water resultin therefrom to flow ofi.

The' present common practice is to transfer the snow from one place to another as is accomplished with the ordinary snow plow. In such cases the ro'ad-i's cleared in a. central section by piling the snow along the sides. Usually such show pilesremain for mostof the Winter season,

becoming solidified into ice, gathering dirt and refuse, and becoming unsightly as 'well becorifihg'a memes-to automobile travel. In-"co'nge'stdhreas on highways Where there is alot ef t't'affic, the snow is often remOVed by trucks and dumped --into rivers, lakes, ocean or in special ddmningigrounds.

-In the present system the snow is melted by means of a roller which is rolled over the snow and which melts the snow as the roller com-es in-c'o'titact "with it. The'r'oller is kept hotby'steam or electricity. The steam may be permitted to pass through the roller by perforating the roller with a great number of small holes distribdted over the entire surface of the roll or the "roller may have -no perforations and the water that may gather Within the 'roller ma be drawn off.

the use of 'a purely electrical system the rolle'r' -fiiay be heated by electrical induction, conve'eti'en, many other suitable means. TheroIler will be propelled over the snow by 'a-truckoh whichiit is 'ad'just'ably mounted and which con taihs 'the equip'ment necessary for operation.

invention will be more fully "described in onne'ction "with the drawings shew'ing an emb'diiiihefitbf the in've'ntiOm-in which:

l igur 'e l shows a side elevation of the inventlon.

figure -2-shows a view taken on the projection oftlie line 22 of Figure 1 with elementsshown in- 'ffia glnentary se'ction. I

Fig' ure l'shws a lnodification of afpoftion 'd f we ele'fnei'its shitvn in Figure 2m snbstantiaily 'thesame" position as in Figd're 2. I Fiuife '4 "shows a niodifi'cati'oh or a detaildf Fi'i-ire -3, "taken on "what would correspond "to a transverse section through Figure3.

'F-igiife 5 shows a detail'as viewed on a 'projetion taken on the line fi 5 of Figdre aahd,

Fi'g'dre 6 "Shows a, modification of "a detail 6f theroller corresponding to the View of Figure'B.

Figure lshow's afmotor truck I with a special fuel-tank 2 a water tank 3 and a boiler 4, which is fired by the burner 5 fed from the fuel tank by the supply pipet. Anytypaofboiler and burner may be used, the --arrang'ement in the truck being more or less "diagrammatic. The boiler and burner should be 'suchas to transfer the @g reat'e'stamount of heat of combustionpossible to the "waterin creating steam in the boiler. Thestear'n be under any desired pressure. by proper yalvecontrol and automatic feed may be such "as tomaintain a desired level in ac cordance with means "and methods known an the art. The truck is provided, in accordance with the present invention, withan upwardly and forwardly inclined channel member 28 at each side of the truck body, each channel being rigidly attached-at its rear, lower end to the truck chassis by boltsB X'Fi'g. 1).

'An outlet ."pip'e '1 from the boiler, *which ipipe may be heat insu1ated,"conve'ys the "steam (to the drutn o'r rune-14s at the front or ith'etrn'c'k. The drum 8 is supported by a forked frame comprising tw'o endar'ms or brackets 10 "and 1 l, which are joined by the "cross support 12. The roller o'r drum is provided with trun'nion's 13 "(Figure 2) which aire'welde d to 'the drum ends I l. The trunnion 13 at the left in Figure 2 is supported by a collar or sleeve l5 (Fig. 2) which-has a names It "through which the collar 15 is bolted to "the hub I! of the frame arm [-0. The"t'fiinnion I3 has an axial bore through "which the steam feed pipe l9 extends through the central axis of the drum. The steam feed'pipe l 9' ha s a flange ['8 on its end which extends *ov''r the end of the trunhion I3 and faces flush against the face of the hub I1. The-open end of the steamnipe abntsa'port '20 in the hub H which port "is aligned with the steam bipe F9 bniifiod to the outerxenli "of the hub --wnere it canoe-a witha plug'2l.

A --feed"supply pipe 22 is fitt'e'd to a communicating'port -23 in the hub H, which 'poi t leads to the port 20. Thepi'pe 22"is centrally loda td in a -channel formed "in the sanprir'tin bracket- Ill between the side channel wall's'fl, 24"(Fig 'di'e 1). The bracket or channel 'arin IQiat "its top end is i 'rovided "with a cylindrical beari g dr collar 25, fitting over a hollow sleeve 26 f'tl'ir "use which the extension 21 of' the feedpipe 22 fiasse's. The hollow sleeveze servesas anivdt oij'd' ambearing "for "the bracket or arm l 0. 'This sleeve 26 is held tightly to the 'channel'arm'zs 1 (Figures 1 andfz) bymeans'of'a flahge' ie'at theend of the sleeve 26, which flange is bolted by bolts '30 to the "channel 28. A flat plate i3l 'may iillout the channelwhere 'the-flange 29 is attached. generally -=similar ipivmai or ijoux n'al maximisation 6 not enewm 'isffproiiided between othfl ihfefi channel 28 and the end ll of the forked frame.

The drum or roller 8 is driven by a chain drive although any other type known drive may be used. For this purpose a spur gear 32 may be bolted to the flange of the trunnion l3 which is fixed rigidly to the end plate by the welding 33. A chain drive 34 passes over this spur gear and over one of a pair 35 and 36 of coupled spur gears free to move on the sleeve 26. The spur gear 36 is drivenby the chain 31 which passes over the gear 36 and one of the double gears 38 which is journalled on a sleeve 39 supported by the channel 28 in the same way that the sleeve 26 is fastened to the channel 28. The other one of the double gears 38 is driven by chains 40 from the motor 4| through the motor drive gear 42. Suitable reduction gearing may be between the motor and the driving gear 42. The drive is such that the motor 4| will rotate the drum or roll 8 at the speed at which the truck is moved'so that the drum will roll over the ground with substantially no slipping.

" The drum may be raised or lowered by means of a chain hoist 43 which passes over the pulley 44 supported at the end of the channel bracket 2'8 and to the winch 45 mounted in the truck.

' 'As' shown in Figure 2, the supply pipe l9 may have a number of perforations 46 through which the steam escapes into the drum. This steam may be at high pressure and fill the inside of thedrum, heating the drum wal1 8 to a temperature of the steam. The drum wall 8 may have numerous small perforations 41 through which the steam may escape and come in direct con-. tact with the snow to be melted. Where the drum is well down into the snow, all the perforations, even when at the upper position of the roll may be helpful in melting the snow. The latent heat of steam as is well known, has a high thermal value, and a pound of steam under normal pressure conditions will melt approximately more than ten pounds of snow. When it is desired to confine the steam to permit escape only on the lower section of the rotating drum, this may be accomplished by means shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3 this is accomplished by means of a hood 48 which is supported on a fixed sleeve 49 concentrically located within the drum 50. The sleeve 49 extends into the end support which corresponds to the member [5 of Figure 2. The sleeve 49 is how-- ever pinned to the support 5| by set pins 52 threading through the wall of the support 5| into the sleeve :49. The support 5| is fixed to the side, bracket 53 corresponding to the bracket ID of Figure 2. The end plate 54 may befmoveable so that the construction may be properly assembled. The hood 48 may have side walls 55 extending downward to the bottom of the drum, opening at an angle of 20 or more as may be desired. The drum 50 has perforations 56 on all its surface but the steam will escape outside only at the bottom.

In the modification of Figure 4 the drum 5"! has no perforations and the steam simply 'heats the drum. The snow is melted by contact of the heated drum surface with it. Since water may gather at the base of the drum by steam condensation, this may be removed by the exhaust pipe 68 which may pass through the drum axis in the same way that the shaft 49 passes through it.

In the arrangement of Figure 6 the drum 59 is heated by the heating coil 60 wound on an inner drum tile. The coil 60 is close to the inner surface of. the drum -69. Electric current may be supplied to the coil 60 in any suitable manner as for instance by a generator operated on the truck.

Figures 2 and 5 show a detail of the coupling of the terminal of the pipe "I to the pipe 21. The pipe 1 has at its forward end a coupling comprising a radial flange 6| which abuts a corresponding radial flange 62 forming part of a coupling which is fixed to the inner end of the pipe 21. A shell or casing consisting of the two complemental parts 63 and 64 houses the flanges 6| and 62, the shell or housing having aligned openings through which the pipes 1 and 21 enter the shell, the complemental parts of the shell having flanges 65 and 66 (Fig. 5) which are united by bolts. Suitable packing may be used between the opposed faces of flanges 63 and 64. Each pipe, it will be noted is free to turn, so that as the drum is raised or lowered, the pipe 21 will be turned accordingly.

The truck may be driven over the ground in which the snow lies at a slow enough speed so that the heat of the drum or the escape of steam from the drum will melt the snow. For deeper snows the speed may be slower than when the snow is thin.

Other modifications of my invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention in which direct contact of the hot drum or steam from it reduces the snow so that it may flow off as water.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

A snow melting apparatus comprising a vehicle mounted on pneumatic-tired wheels, provided with conventional steering means and having a motor for driving it, a pair of parallel, rigid channel beams arranged at opposite sides respectively of the vehicle, each beam being rigidly fixed at its rear end to the vehicle body adjacent to the forward end of the vehicle body, the beams extending upwardly and forwardly, a rigid, forked frame whose rear end is pivotally connected to the channel beams so as to rock about a horizontal axis spaced from the upper ends of said channel beams, a shaft connecting the upper ends of said beams, a pulley on the shaft, a flexible connector secured at its lower end to the rigid frame at a point below and forward of the pivotal axis of the latter, said flexible connector extending over the pulley and being secured at its opposite end to a winch mounted on the vehicle, a snow melting drum journaled in the forward end of said pivoted, rigid frame to turn about a horizontal axis, a sprocket gear fixed to the drum coaxially with the latter, a second sprocket gear coaxial with the pivotal axis of the rigid frame, a sprocket chain embracing said sprocket gears, means extending along one of said channel beams for transmitting motion from the vehicle motor to the second-named of said sprocket gears there-v by positively to turn the drum, the motion-transmitting means being so designed that the drum is turned at substantially the same angular veloc-. ity as the vehicle wheels, a steam generator mounted on the vehicle, means operative in all positions of the pivoted frame to conduct steam from the generator to the interior of the drum, the peripheral surface of the drum being perforated thereby to permit steam to escape from the drum, and a stationary shield within the drum operative to prevent escape of steam from the drum except at the lower part of the latter.

MAX HOFFMAN.

(References on following page) 5 REFERENCES CITED Number The following references are of record in the 1,190,521

file of this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Number Name Date 136,853 Mullaly Mar. 18, 1873 Number 592,728 Glover Oct. 26, 1897 4,539

859,356 Wilson July 9, 1907 Name Date Dahne July 11, 1916 Jackson Feb. 22, 1921 Hamshaw Oct. 21, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1902 

